HF News: [2/29/12]

BELLAGIO · at Thursday, March 01, 2012

Michael Westen: Hey Groove! Thanks for taking the time out for this interview! Before we begin, would you like to give a shoutout to any special members?
Groove1337: I'd like to give a shout out to -Elision- who just bought http://www.NetFlirts.com with me, hopefully this is the start of something great.

Michael Westen: Can’t wait to check it out! I assume it will be a dating site of some sort. To start us off, what lead you to Hack Forums and why did you like it enough to stay?
Groove1337: I remember finding hackforums once via google when searching for something back in 2008, I shamefully found it, leeched it and never looked back until I came upon it again in 2009, this time I made an account and had a read, I didn’t get active until last year really where I bought leet and started trying to contribute – moved up to Ub3r soon after. The reason I stay is because behind all of the junk there is some very good info here as well as some great people.

Michael Westen: I see! It’s interesting how many people join, become inactive, and then come back! I’m surprised your account wasn’t closed! What has changed the most in your 3 years on Hack Forums? I would like to congratulate you on your 3 year anniversary 16 days ago!
Groove1337: Thanks, I didn’t even notice that :P Well the Ub3r count has gone through the roof, like seriously – I had something like 31 rep and 200 posts when I went for UB3R, not much at all - standards definitely dropped for acceptance but what a profile tells you at face value is sometimes very different to the mind behind it so it's not a bad thing in a lot of cases. The SE section is gone, I find this a great shame and wish Omni had just assigned some moderators to it – I’d have happily sat there moderating it.

Michael Westen: I agree, though they did blow both their first and second chances. Speaking of which, I see you're very active in the e-whoring section, would you consider it a hobby or a passion? Both?
Groove1337: Yeah, it was the only section I could really contribute to until I got into SE, I started with Facebook packs and then moved onto E-Whore collections – definitely a Hobby, I don’t actually do it very much – was useful at Christmas to buy those damn rip off Uggs for the girlfriend though.

Michael Westen: From what I hear, the people who usually purchase pictures have become much smart which is ashame. What's your favorite activity outside of HF?
Groove1337: I’m a very keen rugby player, in the 1st team for my University.

Michael Westen: That’s awesome! I’ve only played a few times and left pretty banged up. What about your favorite food?
Groove1337: Chinese food, hands down.

Michael Westen: I’m beginning to like you more and more. Kung pao chicken! If you could change one thing on HF, what would it be?
Groove1337: Bringing the SE section back for a 1 week trial and letting a team moderate it with an evaluation at the end of the week.

Michael Westen: If only Omni was open to this, it was a valuable section but unfortunately people can’t follow the rules! Rules are important, especially on HF! Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Groove1337: I’ll have finished my degree and will be working for a very big technology company hopefully, (won't name for obvious reasons) I have a year long work placement with them next year.

Michael Westen: That sounds great, I’ll be attending college next year and I plan on majoring in networking! Before we wrap this up, do you have any closing words for the readers?
Groove1337: Not really, thanks for reading and if you ever need any help or advice with anything then I’m only a PM away.

Interview - Vizixify

Paradise.: Hey, Vizixify! Glad you could take the time to have this interview with me!
Vizixify: Hello! I'm happy to be interviewed!

Paradise.: Great! Now before we start; is there anyone you'd like to get a shoutout to?
Vizixify: That shoutout probably got to go to Click Me, an awesome internet friend!

Paradise.: I've seen him around the Minecraft section, I hear he's a great coder! How did you get your alias, "Vizixify"? I remember when I first talked to you, I didn't even know how to pronounce it!
Vizixify: Hehe, thanks! My name originates from my Youtube channel which I had to make sooner or later. To be honest though, I just bashed random characters until I got a decent one!

Paradise.: Cool! So what do you think about the recent staff changes? Such as ReactionZ going from Mentor to Staff in such a small amount of time, and Factior8 being promoted to Administrator?
Vizixify: In my opinion, it's honestly not that big of a deal. As long as they're doing what they're supposed to do, it's OK.

Paradise.: Mhmm. So, what's your favorite section within Hack Forums, and why?
Vizixify: That has to be the griefing section. I've stated my opinion on it before, and I'll do it again. For me, the griefing section is a completely different community than most other sections. Since the griefing section is where I started, I really got to know the people there. 90% of my posts are from the griefing section, just because I know everybody there, and I think it's rough trying to get used to a new community, and that's why rarely post outside of the section.

Paradise.: Hmm. I sometimes hang out there, but I have heard a lot of contraversity within the Griefing section. People thinking it's going to get removed, people saying how low quality it is, etc... What are your thoughts on those rumours and statements?
Vizixify: To begin with, the Minecraft section got flooded with griefing threads. In fact, there was rarely any threads unrelated to griefing there. That's why Omni made the griefing section; to give legit Minecraft players a chance in the Hackforums community as well.
I seriously doubt that it's going to get removed, just because it will start the same disaster that nobody wanted. That's my thoughts though, albeit it's not likely to happen.

Paradise.: I never knew that. I thought it was added just because it's a whole new "dimension" of Minecraft. Griefing. Now, outside of Hack Forums and Minecraft what are some hobbies of yours?
Vizixify: I'm in to computer programming, or, coding. I started learning Java 5-6 months ago, and I think it's gone pretty good. Out of all the programming languages, I'd prefere Java. If you're new, however, some might say it's easier to start off with either C++ or C#, that's down to your personal preferences.

Paradise.: Oh cool, I've seen you code. You're an amazing coder! Anything you do such as sports, be a player, etc?
Vizixify: Not really, I've never been a sports player. However, I did some fighting sports some years ago. It was fun, I suppose. I quit about 1 year after I started, just because it took too much time as I had to drive for several hours back and forth, each day. That's the only reason I quit. I guess I would've quit anyway, but not that early.

Paradise.: Oh, I see. Well, I think that I've talked about everything I've wanted to talk about. Anything you want to discuss? If not, feel free to wrap up the interview with anything!
Vizixify: Yes there is! I'd like to thank every moderator/administrator for keeping this forum as clean and simple as it is today. This is by far the best forum I've ever participated in!
That pretty much sums it up.

Davy Jones Died
Former Monkees lead singer past away this week. Davy join the Monkees in 1965 and had a wide variety of popular songs such as "I'm a Believer' and 'Daydream Believer'. He passed away at the age of 66 due to a heart attack near his horses, which were his life passion.

Egypt Opens Doors
Egypt has recently decided to lift the travel bin in US allowing Americans to enter and leave, most likely to reconcile with USA back from the crisis. Currently 7 Americans are trapped in Egypt but have been moved to the US embassy. News was released that a military plane landed in Egypt earlier in effort to bring the Americans back home.

North Korea and US agree on Nuclear Halt
Earlier Wednesday, North Korea agreed on stopping their nuclear weapon testing to allow UN inspectors to return. This will also aid in the reconciliation between US and N. Korea after all these years of tension.

iPad 3:
The iPad 3 finally has a planned event. After months and months of rumors and speculations, the iPad 3 which is set to be introduced on March 7th. The iPad 3 according to [MacRumors] is to be thicker than the iPad 2. Also it seems with the photos from Apple’s invite that the iPad 3 has no home button. This could mean new gestures that for the iPad button and maybe we can see more innovation from Apple.

iTV:
Now that the iPad 3 has been announced, there is another thing that is pointing to a showcase of a new Apple TV. It could be a update to the old little box of the original Apple TV or maybe a revolutionary new TV that will change what we know of the TV today. The event on March 7th could be the release of 2 new products from Apple.

Stocks:
Apple’s stock skyrocketed today. Apple is now worth half a TRILLION dollars. Yes, half a trillion! 1 stock for Apple now is about 525 dollars. Apple surpassed EXXON as being the biggest company on the market. With this rapid growth maybe Apple one day will reach a trillion dollars. Its already growing a lot daily, maybe with all this money; Apple will bring in things that no one has ever seen or dreamed of.

Record Broken
Adele's album "21" celebrated its 21st week at No. 1 on the billboards. This is the longest command for an album by a woman in the chart's 56-year history.

Good Girls
Carrie Underwood released another song warning against unseemly male figures in "Good Girl", her newest single released Thursday February 23rd, 2012.

Whitney Houston and Youtube
Whitney Houston's Youtube and Vevo videos are in high demand. Her view count increased by 4,523% last week. She went from 868,000 views to 40.2 million views in the week ending February, 20th.

Return Of A King
Bruce Springsteen will be on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" for a week-long tribute as part of the release of his new album, "Wrecking Ball".

Music Videos of the Week

"What do you think of Hack Forums' theme?"

"I think HackForums theme is great. I can be reading many thread
during the day without getting irritated in my eyes of the colors. When
Omniscient add something new he always adds something very smexy.
The theme is very unique too. You won't find a theme a round that looks
like Hacksfourms without it's inspired by our theme. Omniscient did a good
job as always!"
-Tobe

"I think the HackForums theme needs a little upgrading. It's
fine for a low traffic site, but it's blown up now. I'm sure Omni could get an
HF member to really make some amazing graphics for him. I really think the
logo and colors should be changed a little."
-iHaX™

"Personally, I believe that the theme is great at the state it is right now.
However, I feel many "veterans" of Hack Forums want something fresh and
new, and the newer members are more impartial because they have not been
in the site for as long. A new theme wouldn't be a bad thing in my opinion,
especially with the 5 year anniversary coming up. As I said before, the theme
is great right now, but a fresh look wouldn't be bad either."
-Elite_Sniper

"I like the current theme that Hackforums employs. It makes the
website look clean, slick and best of all; professional. Everything is in it's place
and it looks very neat and tidy. The grey color makes the site have a neutral
look which is good since it does not look too hard on the eyes if you are viewing
in the night, and the absence of bright colors and colourful ads makes the site look
like it is run by someone who wants to maintain a high standard, which Omni certainly
does."
-+Pirate

The topic for next week is "Which do you prefer? Moderation or Staff, why?"

To send in your entries for the next edition, PM Sir.